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A few things to get from the video. No desire to go to the army, and taking it further to live back in Israel. He said, if he makes the NHL, his dream is to move his family to Canada. Very interesting. Also interesting that international hockey was not talked about in the feature.

A few things to get from the video. No desire to go to the army, and taking it further to live back in Israel. He said, if he makes the NHL, his dream is to move his family to Canada. Very interesting. Also interesting that international hockey was not talked about in the feature.

I mean, when you've got a promising career prospect, albeit with a bad team, not wanting to sacrifice that by going to the army doesn't seem too outrageous

I watched the video. I did not take from it a feeling that Levin doesn't care about Israel, or being Israeli.

Rather, what I saw was a kid who doesn't want to give up on his NHL dream. If he returns to Israel before the age of 45, he will have to put in his couple of years of mandatory military service, which would effectively end his chances of getting drafted by an NHL team, or later playing in the NHL. Likewise, if he does make the NHL and makes a ton of money, he would have the ability to move his family to Canada so that he could actually see them in person.

The simple solution would be for the Israeli government to grant him an elite athletic exemption from military service. He certainly warrants the exemption. Even if he never plays for the Israeli national team (which would be a shame), Israel should give him the exemption - he is a good, hard working, humble kid and having him show pride in being Israeli would be good P.R. for the State of Israel - which desperately could use some, considering the largely unfair portrayal of it by the majority of the world media. It would be a win-win for both Levin and the Israeli government.

What I got from it is, he no longer wants to live in Israel and wants to bring his family to Canada. Let's not forget of the younger Levin, who I've been told, might be better the David. Also, his dad runs the Kfar Saba Hockey club and smaller clubs like Zoran, so I don't see him leaving Israel.

About International level, I see no reason for him to Play for Canada and Israel should be the sure thing. As we've seen in the recent minor international tournament, it didn't go so well.

Also, there is no reason for him not to get Sportai mistayen, what Marc said, Athletic Exemption. He looks like he's on the road to being drafted in the NHL, what round and if he will play is not important, but I definitely see potential for him to play in the AHL, which is the 2nd beset league in the world. As Marc said, this is good PR for Israel which badly needs it.

Absolutely he deserves it, especially with being the first true Israeli player to be developed in the country and make it to junior hockey, with a chance at the NHL.

Had an interesting thought: Would it be possible for him to return to Israel one last time, and play for either Canada or Israel in the next Maccabi Games (2017)? The tournament will be in July that year, so he will still be 2 months from his 18th birthday.

Absolutely he deserves it, especially with being the first true Israeli player to be developed in the country and make it to junior hockey, with a chance at the NHL.

Had an interesting thought: Would it be possible for him to return to Israel one last time, and play for either Canada or Israel in the next Maccabi Games (2017)? The tournament will be in July that year, so he will still be 2 months from his 18th birthday.

There are many, many factors in play. Let's just start with, will there be a Canada Center in 2017? Will the new rink in Holon be built by Summer 2017?

I agree with Marc, this makes absolutely no sense. The Canada Centre is the lifeblood of Metula, and the home of both the hockey and figure skating federations. Obviously both programs would move to the new rink in Holon once it is completed to allow for more ice time for kids. But there's no way the Maccabi World Union would be planning for this tournament in 2017, if the Canada Centre was intending to close and without a guarantee of the new rink being ready. Hckeyguy25, where are you hearing this?

I agree with Marc, this makes absolutely no sense. The Canada Centre is the lifeblood of Metula, and the home of both the hockey and figure skating federations. Obviously both programs would move to the new rink in Holon once it is completed to allow for more ice time for kids. But there's no way the Maccabi World Union would be planning for this tournament in 2017, if the Canada Centre was intending to close and without a guarantee of the new rink being ready. Hckeyguy25, where are you hearing this?

Directly from Canada Center. As of Now, Canada Center is Open through April 2016. After that, could be any day it closes. Why do you think no games have been played in Metula this year? Now, things may change, but last I heard, which was as recent as last week, Canada Center will probably close May 2016.

Most interesting part is near the end where the topic of the exemption comes up:
Even if Levin were to continue to draw attention from N.H.L. clubs when he is draft-eligible in 2018, he will still have to serve in the Israeli military when he turns 18 in September 2017.

Levin could avoid serving in the military if he were to gain Canadian citizenship before his 18th birthday, or he could apply for one of the small number of temporary exemptions given to elite athletes. Darren Ferris, Levin’s agent, said they were looking “at all options” to obtain a Canadian passport for Levin.

Really nothing wrong with his season in OHL, put up decent numbers as a 16 year old. Nothing to sneeze at. There's little doubt he will be drafted into the NHL in 2018. He is already possibly the highest profile Israeli, which is great. Hopefully he continues his progression and joins them internationally in the future. Would be great to see the program develop in Israel.

This means his international status will remain in question for another year (until next year's U18s). He is also not on Israel's preliminary entry list for the Div. 2B Worlds which begin this weekend.

Next up will probably be one of the Canadian teams for the u-17 international challenge in November.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I've noticed that Canada has three squads in this event. Are the teams picked at random or is there a clear hierarchy? For example, will all the highest-rated prospects be selected for Canada Red, for example?

Levin's team qualifies to the playoffs (6th in the east) against Oshawa Generals.
They won 5:2 in Oshawa and took the home court in game 1 (Levin - 1 assist)
they last game 2, also in Oshawa, 5:1.

There are no mock drafts out yet, but most of the discussions I see in forums put him at 2nd round at best for the 2018 draft. He's not producing good enough numbers to overcome the disadvantage of his relatively small size.

On Sunday David Levin will end his third OHL season, the last before the NHL draft he's eligible for.
A nightmare season for him - poor numbers (like the other two seasons), a long and mysterious injury, terrible team performance. In the mock draft of Draftsite he crashed to the 7th round.

I'm sorry to have to say it, as painful as it sounds, but his major junior career makes him nothing short of a flop. I'm aware of his personal story and all, but I don't think the professionals take that into account - and rightly so. two injuries, poor numbers, hasn't raised his team. I'm sure they expected much more when he was drafted in 1st spot into the OHL.